


the position that you're in

by debonairnightmare



Category: The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Genre: Angst, Break Up, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Crack and Angst, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, cleanse me, i actually fucking hate myself oh my god, i feel like distilled gatorade has been injected into my veins, i want to say i did this on a dare but i didnt, literally bathe me in holy water, no beta we die like i sure would fucking like to, ohhhhh my god, ohhhhhhhh my god, sally is mentioned a couple times, theres a reason im uploading this at midnight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:55:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27665735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/debonairnightmare/pseuds/debonairnightmare
Summary: read the tags and let me sleep.
Relationships: Oogie Boogie/Jack Skellington
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	the position that you're in

**Author's Note:**

> fuck me running i wrote a crackfic. pure sugar has been injected into my veins i feel like i'm on crack.  
> anyway my friend was joking about this and me, being unable to let things be, actually fucking followed through. because i can't do my math homework but this, this i can do. because i hate myself, apparently. anyway, enjoy this fucking mess, whoever ends up finding it.

“I don’t want your apology,” Jack whispered, thin hands covering his eyes, rubbing at his white temples, “Why did you do it, Oog?”

“You know why I did it, Jack,” Oogie replied, centipedes crawling from his eye slits in some strange form of tears, “You… you were insane. You tried to take over another holiday, and that  _ Sally  _ girl…” He trailed off, unsure of what the right words to say. Were there any? Would there ever be?

“Sally will never be anything more than a friend, Oogie,” Jack finally showed his face, the black voids that made up his eyes now creased with confusion, “Don’t tell me you were jealous?”

Oogie let out a sob, sacked hand coming up to cover his mouth, preventing another from escaping, “What was I supposed to think? She was spending so much time at your house, the way you  _ looked  _ at her, it was the conclusion any reasonable creature would come to, Jack!”

“It’s…” Jack sighed, “It’s complicated.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling deeply before finally looking back at Oogie.

“So, there is something there?” Oogie could feel his heart break, and tried his best not to let it show on his face. He wasn’t sure how successful he was.

“Not on my side of things, Oogie,” Jack swallowed, reaching his hand out. Oogie didn’t take it, “You know I could never forget you. Us.” He retracted his hand after a few awkward seconds, but didn’t break eye contact. He was determined, then.

“Sally wasn’t the only reason, though,” Oogie said quietly. What he said next could possibly mean the end of him and Jack. Forever.

Oogie had loved Jack for his passion. He threw himself into the things he believed in, and for a long time that was Halloween. Oogie fell in love with Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, the heart and soul of Halloween. But nothing lasts forever, and the events of the past two months had been a harsh reminder of how passion was not always a good thing.

When Oogie had found out about Jack’s plan to take over Christmas, he was crushed. Oogie had loved Halloween, and Jack had too. When Jack decided to make Christmas, he had cast Oogie and his feelings aside, throwing himself into something new, with  _ Sally _ . How in the Devil’s name was a creature like Oogie supposed to fit into Christmas? Jack had obviously not even considered Oogie in the whole thing, and that had hurt like nothing else ever could. Oogie was made of harsh, rough burlap, stuffed with centipedes and roaches and crickets, an abomination that could never fit into such a jolly and bright holiday. Oogie had felt unappreciated, undeserving. Unloved. And it was the worst feeling in the world.

“What is it, Oog?” Jack used the pet name gently, as he had the first ever time the word had left his mouth. It was hard to believe that he was the same madman that had been parading around the night sky only a few hours earlier.

“Jack, when you chose Christmas over Halloween, you also chose it over me.”

Jack looked horrified, black eyes widening and hands grasping wildly to find purchase on Oogie’s burlap.

“Oogie, you know I’d never do something like that, how could you even  _ think _ -”

“Jack. It’s okay. We were never going to work out anyway,” This was true. He and Jack had been a whirlwind, and deep down, they both knew it was all they ever would be; fast and messy and gone after only a short while, “Let me go.”

“Oogie, all I ever wanted to do was bring people joy! Why does it matter whether it’s Halloween or Christmas?” Jack exclaimed, throwing up his hands, “That doesn’t excuse-”

“Look at me, Jack!” Oogie yelled, gesturing wildly at himself, “I can’t be involved in your Christmas! I’m a burlap sack of bugs, and that is all that I will ever be. I got upset because I knew that I could never really be a part of your life if that was what you wanted. I’m sorry, Jack.”

“That doesn’t explain why you were trying to  _ kill me _ , Oog,” Jack sighed again, “Why?”

That was perhaps where Oogie’s logic was most flawed. The rest was simple, understandable. He was hurt, he was angry, and he was jealous. Standard emotions for most creatures, at least those that he knew. Maybe over in Santa’s Village they didn’t even know what jealousy was. But why did he try to kill Jack?

“I don’t know,” Oogie whispered brokenly, “I’m sorry… I don’t know.”

Jack folded his arms across his chest as if they would protect him, “You try to kill me and you don’t even have good reason for it? What about Sally? What about Santa? You’re insane, Oogie, let me help you!”

“I can’t be helped, Jack!” Oogie took a step back, beginning to feel the heat of his cauldron on his burlap, “Just leave me. It’ll be better for both of us.”

“Oogie…”

“Go, Jack.” Oogie pointed to the ladder leading up to the trapdoor that would lead to the outside world, to Halloween town. His home, Jack’s home. He looked away, “Just… just go.”

Jack turned to the door, glancing over his shoulder one last time as he began to climb.

“For what it’s worth, Oogie, I’m sorry.”

“... I’m sorry too, Jack.” Jack nodded sadly, gangly limbs reaching for the rungs of the ladder, ascending into the gray dawn of the perpetual autumn.

Once Oogie heard the trapdoor creak open and slam shut again, he sank to his knees beside the giant cauldron. What had he done? He knew that love didn’t last forever, but would one more minute have hurt? One more night together. What had he done?

Lock, Shock, and Barrel would come looking for him any minute now, some new gossip or information on the goings on in Halloweentown, but Oogie couldn’t bring himself to care. He sat on the floor of his lair, and he cried.

**Author's Note:**

> there. you read it. good job. woohoo. please let me sleep now.
> 
> tumblr is embroideredmushroom. follow me for reblogged shitposts and rambling in the tags. that's it that's the pitch i have nothing else to give. thanks for reading please comment and give me kudos. and if you're interested, read one of my fics that i actually care about. okay bye.


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